Little Betty Crocker

Shelby got a baking set for Christmas from her Aunt JJ and she was so excited to try it out. So after I put her brother down for a nap we got busy making her cupcakes from scratch, following a receipt that came with her set. Shelby had a blast, I let her measure and pour almost everything herself. She cleaned her own dishes and decorated them by herself too. I must say those were some NASTY cupcakes. While Grandpa and I tried them and gave them a thumps down (although we told Shelby they were yummy) Shelby thought they were divine. I guess maybe it is better when you are the one putting the work into it???

Snow Days

Merry Christmas Eve! Ben and I are planning on fun filled day for the kiddos. We took them sledding in the early afternoon and they had a blast. Shelby even tested out the hill all by herself! She looked way too little going down the hill by herself on the sled but she wasn't scared at all, we even let her take Toby down once (of course they crashed but still both came up happy).
I am very happy to get a break during Toby's nap to get a few things ready for dinner tomorrow and then we are going to a Christmas Eve party. I am hoping Shelby will be wore out enough that she will sleep good even with all of the excitement of Christmas morning coming soon. Happy, warm wishes to everyone else!
Love the Wallace Clan.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

Here is my list of three things I am loving about Christmas this year.
First of all I am loving the snow! I know I might quite possibly be the only in Boise now that I am surrounded by a bunch of Cali's (HAHA) but I love it! We are suppose to have another storm moving through tonight and tomorrow so no more Dreaming of a white Christmas (I am so lame). This is Toby's first winter that he can walk so it is funny to watch him. He loves wearing his boots and stomping around in the fresh snow.
Second thing I am loving about Christmas is Shelby's excitement. She is really starting getting all this stuff figured out, she was excited to put up the tree and see Santa and sing Christmas songs, oh yes she is on cloud nine. When I told her tonight that tomorrow is Christmas Eve her eyes lit up, she has been waiting for so long I think she can't believe that it really is going to come.
Third thing I am loving about Christmas is as usual the Christmas Spirit and now that have I got everything ready to go I can sit back and enjoy the last few days! Merry Christmas!!!

Brothers

We had to run out to Shopko this evening to pick up a few Christmas gifts (they had their pet shops on half off so I told Shelby she could pick one that I would mail to Santa so he could give it to her at the Christmas party she is going to in a few weeks.) Awww, What am I going to do when she is not so gullible anymore? When we got home Shelby wanted to go in her room and watch Frosty the Snowman on our little portable TV, so I said fine and she ran off in there to watch it and of course Toby followed. Next I hear her telling Toby she wants him to go away so she can watch her movie alone then she said "I want a lock for my door so Toby can't come in when I am watch movies".
It cracked me up. I don't know where she got that from, heck I don't even get to lock the door when I go to the bathroom without them having an emotional breakdown.

Oh Christmas Tree

I have always loved my Christmas tree. I started making ornaments when I was a kid so I have made most of the ornaments on my tree, I have always been very particular about the way it looks and where the ornaments are placed... but people I am here to say "I GIVE UP!!!" Having a two year old boy and a Christmas tree may just be the point where I need to let go. So I let the kids help me arrange the tree and even though they constantly take the ornament off and replace them all on the same branch I have decided to give in and love our tree for what is now is, the tree of a two and four year old no longer my master piece.
So Toby and Shelby now get to hang all of their own master pieces on the tree like like paper plates painted in green and red that the paints have been mixed until it turned a lovely color of brown and of course their new ornaments they bought for this year because I am to lazy to make them one. Toby picked out a car OF COURSE and Shelby got a blue Cinderella doll.
I am liking the new look our tree is taking on now it is a family tree now with memories and love. Awww that was sweet.

Festival of Trees

This past Saturday Shelby got to dance in the festival of trees with her her ballet class. They did a good job and were so stinkin cute up there. Shelby is the third on over from the left in the bottom picture and the second from the right in the top picture.
After Shelby got done dancing she asked me if you she could do it every day. I was surprised they didn't get nervous with the big crowd watching.

Our Day

Shelby had dance class today. She is doing good in it she really enjoys to dancing and watching herself in the mirror. They found out today they will be dancing in the Festival of trees the Saturday after Thanksgiving, it should be a lot of fun to see how she does during her first dance performance.
I got a can of shaving cream today and gave Toby a car to drive through it and he had a blast, although he still smells like a little man after two baths.

Maybe journal writing is more then what it cracks up to be

Yesterday I was feeling pretty down. So I pulled out my scriptures and started reading hoping I would be inspired and all of my bad feelings would quickly disappear like had happened on so many other occasions. Last night it was not the case after about 10 min of trying to read I decided to put my book down and get out my old journal that I have not written in for about 2 and a half years. The first thing I pulled out was a letter that I wrote to Ben a few year ago after reading the book "The Message" for anyone who has not read this book before I will tell you it is one of the most amazing and inspiring books that I have ever read. I read the letter I wrote Ben and then a letter that he wrote back to me, afterwards I read back through old journal entries about when we were dating, first married and after Shelby was born. I read about all of the cute things she did. I had one entry about buying Shelby her first tea set and told about how she played in her room for about an hour with the set then came out and sat on the couch with me a little later I had gone gone to her room and had expected to find a mess and instead found she had set her little table with plates, cups and spoons.
Reading through the old journal entries really lifted my spirits and made me realize how important the little things are and how lucky I am to have my little family.
So I guess I should get back into journal writing again and hope that I stick with it this time.

Six l-o-n-g years JK!

So today is Ben and I's six year anniversary and I can't believe how quickly it has gone by.
It is amazing to look back over the last six years and see how far we have come, so I am going to summarize our lives together thus far. What fun!
Ok so Ben and I got married in Idaho Falls, November, 9,2002. We went on a cruise for our honeymoon to Catalina Islands and Ensanada, Mexico then (my favorite part) we went to Disney Land. I had never been and was the most excited about that. After our honeymoon we came to my new home in Boise. Ben's previous bachelor pad that need a lot of TLC. I got a job working at Great Clips where I screwed up probably half the people in Boise's hair (wow you really have a lot to learn after Beauty School) Our first year was a little rough. I was home sick a lot since I had always been close to my family. Ben's brother also passed away 5 months after we were married, and of course we had to get use to each others annoying habits like leaving the toilet seat up (Ben) or always stuffing everything in the drawers (me).
November 15, 2003 Ben and I were sealed in the Boise Temple, that day was even better then our wedding. Ben was even able to go through the temple for his brother.
April of 2004 we found out that we were going to be having our first baby. I was ecstatic, I always talked to her in my belly and called her girlfriend. Shelby was born December 14, 2004 just in time for Christmas.
I think it was in May of 2004 we purchased a new home, a total fixer upper seriously you have no idea I will post pictures sometime. After a year of remodeling we finally moved into our new house July 3rd 2006 and we had our second baby December of 2006 once again just in time for Christmas.
Since then we have still been working on remodeling our home and hope to finish Toby's bedroom in the next few weeks, we are pretty much going to be waiting on carpet.
Ok that is a really long history but those are the highlights.
I love you Ben! You are my best friend (although Shelby thinks she is) I am usually so happy that I get to spend the rest of my life with you! Here is to the next 6 years, They should be exciting.

Grandma and Grandpa visit the Wallace's.

Grandma and Grandpa Scovill are at our house visiting and we are having a blast! The kids got to have a sleepover with them while Ben and I went to the Anniversary inn we have been married 6 years now! We also went to the mall where I almost had a heart attack at The Disney store when I saw their costumes for 75% off. Yes nothing makes my face light up like a good deal.
I even got them playing air hockey. They are still young, although dad's back did start hurting a little from leaning over to play.
We have been having so much fun, I am sad that time seems like it is going by so fast they have already been here for a week and I am so not ready for them to go yet so I hope time slows down from here.

Fall

Fun!


Whats more fun then playing in a big pile of leaves on a cool fall afternoon.
Shelby and Toby had a blast. Toby like taking the leaves and filling the trunk of his bike up. Shelby tried to make a leave angel (kinda like a snow angel).
It is amazing how hard it is to get all the leaves out of their hair and clothes before they come in the house though.

Wow.

Ok so here is my vent and right now I am pretty sure that 58% of American's aren't going to like it. I don't think McCain was the best choice for the Republican party but I do believe he was the lesser of two evils.
I do not think it is ok that our future President Obama is friend with one of the men who helped in bombing the pentagon. I also do not think it is ok that his wife has never been proud to be an American, I mean come on people our first Lady is not proud to be an American. If you don't like what America stands for leave. No seriously do. And this spread the wealth crap is a bunch of freaking bull crap. You only deserve what you have worked and sacrificed for.
So I see it like this, this is a very scary time for our country and I am pretty sure Obama is not going to be able to fix it. He may be able to pull something out of his butt and turn it all around but it is pretty doubtful. So I am going to finally get started on the food storage thing that I am always hounding myself about and start repenting because the end has got to be near.
I could vent a whole more about this whole thing but it wouldn't do any good. We will just have to wait and see what happens.

Buzz and the Fairy

Here is a sneak peek at Buzz light Year and his side kick the Autumn Fairy. Ok so they don't really go together. I found Shelby's costume at Savers and like every year had all of these fabulous ideas of how I was going to make it look really cool and be so crafty and like every year I didn't get it done. Will I ever learn? So I threw some supplies from Michael's together real quick before the party today. I think she actually looked pretty cute. She had a leaf sash and wings also but took them off. I thought she looked more like she was suppose to be in a mystical play though then go trick-or-treating.
I think I will just buy her costume from the Disney Store on clearance for next year's Halloween like I did with Toby's, at least then I won't have to worry about procrastinating next year.

Time to carve some pumpkins.

We carved our pumpkins today.
We cut the tops out and told the kids to clean them out. Toby got all into it, he doesn't mind getting dirty. Shelby on the other hand told Ben she was just going to wait for mommy to do it. We gave Shelby a marker and let her create her own face this year but I helped her cut it out. The eyes are two different sizes she added hair and you can't see it but it also has ears. Good job Shelby. She named her Rose. Interesting choice.
We just did a regular Jack-o-lantern face for Toby's. My creative juices were not really flowing tonight.
It was sticky and it was messy but the kids had a great time. Check them out showing off there pumpkins!

The One Eyed Monster

Shelby thinks Grandma Scovill tells the best ghost stories ever. A few weeks ago we were vising family in Idaho Falls and one night Grandma was telling ghost stories to Shelby. She told her a story about Frankenstein another about a mummy but the one that stuck was "The One Eyed Monster".
Since returning home Shelby has been drawing one eyed monsters all over the house. The other day I was helping my sister-in-law bake sugar cookies when Shelby came out of her room to get me, "Mommy I need to show you something" (she was really excited.) So she took me into her room to show me that she had drawn a one eyed monster on her dresser in marker. Once she realized I wasn't impressed she quickly told me it was Toby that drew it, so I told her "Shelby if you are going to draw something and blame it on your brother next time don't draw a one eyed monster we all know that is your thing."
Luckily the marker all came off of her dresser but she still had to go straight to bed. As soon as I walked out of her room I laughed and thought I should have taken a picture before I cleaned it off.
So heres to you Grandma Scovill, a one eyed monster from Shelby.

The Wallace family does the Pumpkin Patch.

Every year we look forward to going out to Linder Farms to find our pumpkins. We arrive with a mission, to find the biggest pumpkin to grace our front porch. This year they didn't have as large of pumpkins as they have in the past (last year we got one pumpkin that was 75lbs.) We still got some pretty good ones though. The pumpkin in the front of the wagon was 65lbs followed by the mommy pumpkin at 55lbs. Of course we got a little sister and baby brother pumpkin also for the kids to carve. It was so much fun to watch them each carefully pick out their own pumpkins that they will be able to carve and set out.
Shelby wants to carve her hand prints again this year like she did last, I am sure Ben will come up with something kinda creepy. We are looking forward to carving our pumpkins it should be a fun, sticky family day.

Shelby Rae

Our little Shelby was born on her Grandpa's birthday so she is very lucky. She is a total corn ball, she loves preschool, she loves to dance (although she would do a lot better if she would stop staring at her self in the mirror). She is very good at coloring. She loves to be out doors riding 4-wheelers or her bike or running around with her little brother causing trouble.
We love watching old Disney shows together or doing craft projects.

Toby Kirk

Meet Toby. He is a happy, healthy and VERY active 2 year old.
He started out the easiest baby I had ever been around and that melted a way into holy terror. You seriously can not turn your back or even take the trash out without coming back to a bit of a mess. He keeps us on our toes and we wouldn't change him for the world.
He is daddy's little shadow and mommy's future heart attack.

Here I am!!!

It seems like everyone has a blog spot now and since I don't want to feel left out or behind the times here I am! Plus everyones pages always look so cute, how could I resist?